Perspective

The author of this memoir, Thirteen Days, is Robert F. Kennedy or RFK, who is probably the most important participant on the American side of the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962, after his brother, President John F. Kennedy or JFK. RFK has worked politically for his brother since 1953 and is at his side during every decision after the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. At the time of the crisis, RFK is the U.S. Attorney General and often JFK's stand-in during discussions. RFK is conscious of playing the role of devil's advocate.

Thirteen Days is very much a "profile in courage" of the late president and the handful of men he gathers to give him advice as the world stands on the brink of nuclear obliteration. Profiles in Courage is JFK's Pulitzer Prize-winning book about courageous U.S. senators. It is a tribute to these people of...